A Moment's Clarity
by Ultrawoman
Summary: Mia's mind works overtime as she walks down the aisle. She soon realises that she only ever really loved one man, and she's never going to be happy without him. That man isn't Andrew, or Nicholas... Guess who?


**A/N: Its crazy to think that its _five and a half years_ since I last wrote fic on The Princess Diaries! What can I say? I was re-watching the movie sequel and I was inspired to put pen to paper (or at least hit the keys of my laptop a lot!) and here's what came out. Probably won't impress anybody, I just felt the need to write it down...**

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**Disclaimer: Characters created by Meg Cabot, and the movie The Princess Diaries 2 A Royal Engagement belongs to Disney - I own nothing of interest here.**

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Walking through doors, she'd felt ready, prepared, intent on doing her duty.

Two steps down the aisle she thought of Nicholas and what Joseph had told her. She ought to have trusted that he wouldn't set her up that way, the video camera was his uncle's idea, she had no doubt. Still, she'd been so ashamed to be caught alone with him in the dark. She wouldn't have felt so awful about it if she really loved him.

A few more steps, not quite half way to Andrew who smiled from his spot at the altar, that was when she started to falter dangerously. Her heart wasn't in it, and as much as she loved her country, she couldn't bind herself to a man who was no more than a good friend.

Halting in the centre of the hall, equal distances from her arranged destiny and her last shot at freedom and true happiness, Mia smiled. She knew where she belonged, what her life was supposed to be. She loved her country, and she loved her grandmother, but they would do without her. For the life of her, the Princess could not imagine going on through her life, without the one person who would make her happiest.

And so she ran...

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The music was deafening, the screaming fans even moreso as the concert reached its climax and the crowd went wild. Too many young girls to profess their love and adoration, he barely took in the voices or faces anymore.

They were good people, and they made him feel good about himself and his music. Still, not one girl he'd met between then and now measured up, not one was as perfect as the one he'd lost. They were so young, she had so many responsibilities, and he wanted a life of his own. Now he saw that as good as that life could be, it would never be as perfect as it might've been if she were there with him.

"You okay, man?" his band-mate asked as they waved goodnight to the crowd and walked off the stage.

"Sure, yeah" Michael nodded, though the smile was a little forced, it always as when he thought of her.

Walking down the hallway to his dressing room, he tried to push all thoughts of Mia Thermopolis out of his head. He'd spent too many hours wondering what she was doing, too many more checking the Internet to actually find out. She was a woman now, engaged to some British gentleman last he heard and due to be crowned any time soon. He'd stopped checking up on her when he heard about the engagement, it tore at his heart too much to know anymore.

Wiping sweat from his forehead, Michael opened the door to his dressing room, feeling more than a little woozy after so many hours out on stage, under the hot lights and surrounded by the crowd. It was this giddiness he felt that he initially blamed for what could only be the hallucination in the room before him.

She had her back to the door when he entered but turned immediately she sensed him there. She was as beautiful now as in any of these fancy ballgowns she had to wear. She was his Princess as she always had been, even in jeans and a T-shirt with his own band's logo on it.

"Michael" the vision spoke, and he suddenly realised she was real as he took one step into the room and she launched herself into his arms, hugging him tight.

"Mia" he breathed her name as he held onto her, loving the feeling of her in his arms again, it'd been too long, "What are you doing here?" he asked, so shocked to have found her here.

"Uh, well, it's kind of a long story" she said with a light laugh as they parted slightly, just enough to look each other in the eyes, "A lot's been happening, things in Genovia got kind of crazy and..."

"But you're engaged" Michael interrupted, knowing that as much as he was loving this moment, deep down hoping she'd come here to say she wanted to be with him, it couldn't be possible.

"No, no, I'm not" she stammered a little as she dropped her eyes to the ground a moment and then looked at him once again, "I actually left the guy at the altar" she said, looking a little ashamed of herself, which was no surprise.

Even if Mia had done the right thing, running out on a man she didn't really love, which he assumed she didn't, she still felt bad about it. She was like the last honest, decent person, and Michael knew because he felt he'd met half the world these past couple of years and nobody had been quite like Mia.

"So, what happened?" he checked, wondering how she'd gone from running out on a wedding to standing here in his arms.

"Well, I... I guess you could say I kind of had an epiphany, and..." Mia floundered as words and sensible explanations escaped her, Michael's eyes boring into her own threw her entirely off course and it wasn't as if this was easy to explain in the first place, "I know I have some nerve just showing up here and expecting you to understand when I'm rambling like a crazy person..." she said, tears filling hers eyes and one arm waving in emphatic gestures as she fought to make herself clear.

That was the moment when Michael lost patience with good sense as he realised this might turn out to be the last chance he got, so he kissed her. He hoped to convey in that one moment all that he felt, all that he'd always felt and perhaps been too scared or too stupid to admit before. Now he needed Mia to know that she was the only girl, the only woman he'd ever loved like this.

Mia was a little stunned to say the least, but nonetheless pleased by Michael's reaction as her arms wrapped around his neck and held him close to her as their kiss went on. It was nothing like their first or any other clinch they'd shared years ago. They were adults now, they felt things differently, they wanted each other as much as they still loved each other and it was proven in this beautiful moment. Still, in spite of how grown up the pair ought to be, Mia still felt her foot pop before they parted.

"Mia, you have no idea how much I've missed you" Michael told her when they were forced to end their kiss, though they stayed in each others embrace.

"Me too" she smiled, "Michael, I thought we made the right decision just being friends, I thought we'd both move on but..."

"But I didn't" he shook his head, "And I'm guessing you didn't either"

"I thought I had, more than once" she admitted, "but it was always you, Michael" she smiled, "Too many people see me now, in my princess spotlight, you were the only one who saw me before that"

"When you were invisible" he said with a smile as he recalled those words she'd once spoken to him the night of her first big ball when they'd had their first date, their first dance, and their first kiss.

"Exactly" Mia grinned, joyful tears falling from her eyes, "I love you, Michael" she said, voice cracking with emotion.

"I love you too, Princess" he smiled back at her, his hand at her cheek, "Always" he swore as he kissed her again, the world around them fading to nothing.

They had no idea how it would all work out, only that it definitely would, because eventually all Princesses got their happily ever after.

- The End -

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End file.
